PHIL20030: Meaning, Possibility and Paradox

4 problem set assignments due across the semester worth 50%, and a final exam worth 50%.

This subject was extremely difficult to me. In the unimelb handbook it said that it is recommended for students to have completed 12.5 credits of a philosophy or linguistics subject, and being a linguistics major I thought logic would be an interesting subject that would be manageable for me. If you're a linguistics student thinking of taking this subject, I can tell you that my prior linguistis studies had no benefit whatsoever. The first half of the course was manageable, but I felt lost and confused for most of the second half when the difficulty in subject matter jumped, even though I attended all seminars and did most readings. The 2-hour seminars are extremely important in enabling you to understand as sometimes watching the videos are not enough. Greg is an excellent teacher, he is patient and explains concepts clearly. A lot of time in seminars is spent doing group discussions of questions and problems provided by Greg, and I did not particularly enjoy this (but that may just be me not really liking group work). The exam is an open book exam, so be sure to keep up with the weekly lectures and compile notes. Past exams are available, and the exams are all very similar in terms of difficulty and structure so be sure to practice some of those. I was convinced I was going to fail the exam and this subject, but I think Greg is quite forgiving when it comes to marking so as long as you keep up you won't do too badly I think. This subject was definitely very challenging and I'd recommend you have prior philosphy or logic background before taking this. If you do, this subject is actually very interesting and mind-boggling as you learn many different types of logic, and the discussions of paradoxes in the later half were especially interesting.

Lectures are all delivered through online vimeo videos. No screen capture for the seminars so it is highly recommended to attend them.

Greg Restall

Yes, for the past 4-5 years I think

3 out of 5

Graham Priest's "An Introduction to Non-Classical Logic" is used. It is recommended, but I found a pdf version online. Do buy it if you prefer a hard copy.

a 2-hour seminar per week, and weekly online video lectures (about 1 hour) to be watched before the seminar

2016, Semester 2

76 H2A